What PetahW said! To be honest, the best round for squirrel hunting is the lowley old
.22 long, not the long rifle, and I like the shorts for cat (grey) squirrels. Some old time advice for squirrel hunters, I've been at this game for over 50 years. A .22 long rifle will shoot thru a squirrel real fast. A long will shoot thru also, but slower. Going thru slower gives the bullet, as it deforms, more of a chance to pull the squirrel lose form the limb. Same holds true for the .22 short, and the smaller cat squirrels. I've left more than one squirrel lying on a limb, or up in the leaves, holding on with a death grip, after being hit many times with .22LR ammo. The WMR is just too much bullet for squirrel hunting, unless you can be sure of a head shot, and in my book that is no place to shoot a squirrel. The head is the best eatin part! .22 LR has a muzzle velocity of around 1250fps, depending on what brand you're shooting. The .22WMR has a muzzle velocity of around 1800 - 1900fps, again, depending on the brand you're shooting. That's fast enough to blow up a poor little ole squirrel! Where would you shoot a deer? That spot works real well for squirrels too!

What PetahW said! To be honest, the best round for squirrel hunting is the lowley old
.22 long, not the long rifle, and I like the shorts for cat (grey) squirrels. Some old time advice for squirrel hunters, I've been at this game for over 50 years. A .22 long rifle will shoot thru a squirrel real fast. A long will shoot thru also, but slower. Going thru slower gives the bullet, as it deforms, more of a chance to pull the squirrel lose form the limb. Same holds true for the .22 short, and the smaller cat squirrels. I've left more than one squirrel lying on a limb, or up in the leaves, holding on with a death grip, after being hit many times with .22LR ammo. The WMR is just too much bullet for squirrel hunting, unless you can be sure of a head shot, and in my book that is no place to shoot a squirrel. The head is the best eatin part! .22 LR has a muzzle velocity of around 1250fps, depending on what brand you're shooting. The .22WMR has a muzzle velocity of around 1800 - 1900fps, again, depending on the brand you're shooting. That's fast enough to blow up a poor little ole squirrel! Where would you shoot a deer? That spot works real well for squirrels too!

I went from .22LR to .22WM a few years ago and have not looked back. I mostly take headshots when squirrel hunting anyway (the LR damages the meat on a squirrel also), but if I can't get the head shot, I put it through the ribs and no damage to the shoulders, not much meat lost. Much better range with the WM over the LR, more power, all around better round in my opinion.

All are fine for the application, however as stated. 22lr bullets are roughly 20.00 per 1000, as compared to 15.00 or so per 50. I personally use a bengiman Sheridan 177 cal air rifle, 1000 fps. for small critters, just a lot of fun and quiet also. Except for pumping noise.

22 long or long rifle. 22 mag is typically not as accurate and acuarcy is what its all about with squirells. I like a bolt action 22 rifle with a 4 power decent scope (not the cheap junk 22 scope) that comes with many of them. Head shots on squirells is what you want You have to be patient and wait for the good shot. Try all the 22 shells and find the one that shoots best for your rifle and use that. They do shoot different.You have to know just where your rifle shoots at various distances and how good it groups If the group is bigger than a squirells head you have a problem. You never want to cripple a squirell or any animal for that matter.

When I was 16 I hunted squirrels on a farm in Iowa. The old farmer that owned the land would laugh at me when I pull out my .22 lr rifle. He always said to me that your a real sportsman with that .22 lr. One day he went with me and used a browning 12 gauge shotgun. He got his limit in no time looked at me and said, "Guess Im not a sportsman, but I do like to eat squirrel!"

My favorite is the .22 LR but I'd be willing to try .22 Longs if I could find them. I sold my .22 Magnum pistols because the price of the ammo is way more than regular .22.

I did see some .22 Shorts at Gander Mountain but it's been years since I've seen a .22 long for sale.

The .22LR solid point is fine for most small game hunting but I occasionally buy hollow points if the price is right. I'm mostly shooting targets these days so I'm not concerned with ruining squirrel meat.

Recently picked up three 550 value packs of Federal copper coated .22 HP's at Wal-Mart for $13 and change per box.